English Words that Sound Yiddish II

The birth of a new language: Yingloshen.

Last time we looked at English words that might make it in Yiddish. This is not a simple task. The standard is high my friends. Mama-loshen wasn’t born in a day and more, carries a nuance that comes from years of love, suffering, and running. But, it’s only fair we give English a chance at reaching the rarefied state of Yiddish. After all, some Yiddish can be found in various English dictionaries. More, it’s being used daily by non-Jews from Rhode Island to Alaska.

Hectic: A person who falls somewhere between an agnostic and an atheist.

YINGLOSHEN : ENGLISH WORDS, THAT COULD, MIGHT, MAYBE BECOME YIDDISH

“Kibosh”
English: To put an end to; to stop something.
Yiddish: Kibosh: (Kibboshnik): A person who jokes constantly, anywhere, anyplace.
Usage: “What does a Rivkah Epstein make for dinner? Heh heh, reservations” told at a Jewish wedding. Now he’s a kibboshnik who should shut up and sell maybe shoes.

“Freckle”
English: Little brown spots on the skin.
Yiddish: (Freckela): A big thing hanging off someone, but you don’t want to make a big deal.
Usage: “So, you have a thing hanging the size of a grapefruit. It’s a freckela. It makes you look exotic. And darling, the surgeon will lop it off one two three -- tomorrow.”

“Glacier”
English: A mass of ice that has accumulated over years.
Yiddish: (Glacianers) We know that Galitzianers, a subdivision of the Ashkenazim, originated from Galicia in the western Ukraine and the south-eastern corner of Poland. They spoke terrific Yiddish! Just recently, archeologists discovered evidence that over 3,000 years ago, there were at least ten, maybe 25 Jews who came from Antarctica. In the beginning there were theories of extra-terrestrials, until Dr. Haim Ginsberger, broke the code in the ice last Fall. It said: “Moses, put on your ear muffs! And remember to put up the mezuzah from the igloo. It came off again!”
Usage: “So, you’re a Galitzianer, and Morris, you’re a Litvack. Well I’m a Glacianer, which is why we serve Moose as our main on the High Holy Days.”

“Spatula”
English: A kitchen tool that has a long handle and short, soft and wide end that is used for mixing, spreading.
Yiddish: (“Spetula): A little argument between mates and/or parents and children which can be resolved when they give in. Some people shorten it to “spetch.”
Usage: “Darlings, so Rhoda likes sweet gefilte and Irving likes not sweet. It’s not a big tsimmis. We’ll serve a choice and end this spetula already. ”

“Latchkey”
English: The key to the outer door of a house.
Yiddish: According to folklore a man named Shmooie Latchkey was also known as the great shtetl thief. Not one chicken was safe when Latchkey was lurking.
Usage: “Morris, I saw you take from my pot of chicken and soup for Shabbos. Fortunately, I make for an army or we’d be short. What Morris, you’re a Mister Latchkey?”

“Brisk”
English: Fresh and invigorating.
Yiddish: (Briskedik) The corned beef didn’t quite make it to brisket.
Usage: “And my sister-in-law thought you can make a brisket in three hours! I tell you, my Marvin need whole bottle of Pepto Bismol from the briskedik.” She thinks it’s St. Patrick’s Day instead of Pesach?! … But who am I to say?”

“Concoction”
English: A mixture.
Yiddish: A repeated excuse.
Usage: “You had a fender-bender and it took seven hours in the E.R.!? Mendel, how many fender-benders can a person have in a month?! Quit with the concoctions and tell me you were playing poker already?”

”Bench”
English: A long seat usually made of wood or stone.
Yiddish: (Bensch) A person on the way to becoming a great human being – but lack a little something. (A group is called Benschen.)
Usage: “If they gave up the spurts of loshen hora, the Goldfarbs could go from caring, loving, giving benschen all the way up to menschen.”

“Glib”
English: Smooth-talking.
Yiddish: (Also “Glibberish”) A burp. The sound your stomach makes when you’ve ODed on too much Kosher wine.
Usage: “Oy Leo darling, from the sound of that big glib from you, enough with the Manischewitz. Don’t you remember what happened when Uncle Fyvush was so glibberish he tried to do the kazatsky on Cousin Adele’s antique coffee table?”

”Hectic”
English: Frantic activity.
Yiddish: A person who falls somewhere between an agnostic and an atheist.
Usage: “Yankel, that young man over there with the tattoo? He told me ‘It’s certainly possible that there is a God, but of course the other possibility is there is no God. Now, given even the slightest possibility, it makes sense according to Hectorian theory that a wise person shall leave his options open –just in case. So, I’m a practicing Hectic.’ I swear Yankel, all I asked him was, “Are you Kosher?”

“Angst”
English: Fear or anxiety.
Yiddish: Part of body, buy no one knows where.
Usage: “Dotty, I keep telling that meshugge doctor, it’s mine ‘angst.’ He finally gave me a scan and said my angst was fine.”
“Darling, what do they know? And by the way, maybe he checked only the left angst.

The right could be your problem!”

By all means, my dear readers, add to the list, and for all we know, we could create an off shoot of Yiddish in America: Yingloshen!

Featured at Aish.com:

About the Author

Quirky, no-nonsense, funny, Marnie – writer, editor, author, lecturer, clinician, and administrator -- is a straight-shooter, who has a distinctive voice and takes on the world in her columns, features, and books. Her advice column was syndicated through Tribune Media Services, and it currently appears in Singular magazine as Singular Solutions. Marnie has written over 20 books/calendars, including the series “A Little Joy, A Little Oy." Her books include Yiddishe Mamas: The Truth About the Jewish Mother and A Little Joy, A Little Oy (pub. AndrewsMcMeel). She is also an award-winning “calendar queen” having written over 20. She has been nominated for both an Emmy and Writers Guild award.Thefullwiki.org has listed Marnie Macauley on their list of top Jewish_American writers, dead or living. (She’s still deciding which.) She was also chosen as a Distinguished Woman in Las Vegas in March of 2014.

The opinions expressed in the comment section are the personal views of the commenters. Comments are moderated, so please keep it civil.

Visitor Comments: 6

(4)
Zvi,
May 27, 2014 12:06 AM

Clever !

I feel so FaBooked (Yiddish for tired from viewing Facebook). I'd like to click "like" and "share" with my father who knows Yiddish well. At least I know Hebrew so understood the Baal agala. Thx for a fun article !Shmulik was so fabooked after reading all those postings on FB, he slept till noon.

(3)
EP DOC,
May 23, 2014 4:30 PM

VERTALACH

I THINK THAT THE WORD BEDEKT, WHICH IS USED BY THE QUEEN OF THE FASHION POLICE IS ALSO YIDDISH AND MEANS COVERED. IN HOLYWOOD IT REFERS TO COVERED WITH JEWELERY.

(2)
Nettie,
May 19, 2014 6:35 PM

Jewish is a throw back in time for me

Never heard of KIboshnik.. Heard of kibbitzer. Unless a kiboshnik is someone who puts the kibosh on something or the hex on something.

Bench is the English word for a long seat. In Yiddish to Bench is to bless.

A leban auf unsera "kep" the plural of Kop.

Kappores (misfortunes) must have a relationship with the holiday Kapporis where chickens are swirled around one's head.

One word that remained with me was the word balagoolah which means wagon driver. I do not know if it is Yiddish or some other language.

Here is a word game: How many words can you list that start with shm. Such as Shmatte Smegegee, shmutz etc.

Mikhael,
May 21, 2014 8:39 AM

@Nettie--I think you're missing the joke

None of the words on the list are Yiddish, and the author wasn't claiming that they were, but she was kidding and making the point that these are English words that sound like they *could* be Yiddish--(instead of Yiddish words that have penetrated into English) example: "latchkey" (rhyming with "Tsoitchke").

"Bal agole" does indeed refer to a wagon or cart driver , but it's one of the many Yiddish words/expressions of Hebrew (rather than German or Slavic) origin --"ba'al" in Hebrew means owner or master and an "agala" is a wagon.

The word "Kappores" doesn't mean a misfortune, but rather an atonement-("kapparoth").-it's an expression said when a misfortune occurs. Yes, it also refers to the pre-Yom Kippur custom in some communities of swinging a chicken to atone for one's sins, in Yiddish "kappores" and in Hebrew "kapparot". The Yiddish interjection of saying "kappora" or "kappores"is that when a minor misfortune does occur, it is a mitigation of something potentially worse-saying "kappora" is meant to make one feel better when they break their precious vase or whatever, you shrug it off and say "Well, it's an atonement"--like instead of something worse happening, like serious accident or illness (G-d forbid!) this happened instead of the worse thing to atone for your sins.

Knowing Hebrew well clarifies these "mysterious" Yiddish words and expressions that are Hebrew-derived.

Anonymous,
May 21, 2014 3:28 PM

balagoolah

comes from baal agalah literally, owner of the wagon or wagoner. Agalah is pronounced agoola in Galicia, hence balagoolah or wagon driver/wagoner.

(1)
Miriam,
May 18, 2014 10:19 AM

Finally!

I've been looking for your articles, Mamale!!!Where were you? The best lines are in the "Usage". So funny I could cry.

I've been striving to get more into spirituality. But it seems that every time I make some progress, I find myself slipping right back to where I started. I'm getting discouraged and feel like a failure. Can you help?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Spiritual slumps are a natural part of spiritual growth. There is a cycle that people go through when at times they feel closer to God and at times more distant. In the words of the Kabbalists, it is "two steps forward and one step back." So although you feel you are slipping, know that this is a natural process. The main thing is to look at your overall progress (over months or years) and be able to see how far you've come!

This is actually God's ingenious way of motivating us further. The sages compare this to teaching a baby how to walk. When the parent is holding on, the baby shrieks with delight and is under the illusion that he knows how to walk. Yet suddenly, when the parent lets go, the child panics, wobbles and may even fall.

At such times when we feel spiritually "down," that is often because God is letting go, giving us the great gift of independence. In some ways, these are the times when we can actually grow the most. For if we can move ourselves just a little bit forward, we truly acquire a level of sanctity that is ours forever.

Here is a practical tool to help pull you out of the doldrums. The Sefer HaChinuch speaks about a great principle in spiritual growth: "The external awakens the internal." This means that although we may not experience immediate feelings of closeness to God, eventually, by continuing to conduct ourselves in such a manner, this physical behavior will have an impact on our spiritual selves and will help us succeed. (A similar idea is discussed by psychologists who say: "Smile and you will feel happy.")

That is the power of Torah commandments. Even if we may not feel like giving charity or praying at this particular moment, by having a "mitzvah" obligation to do so, we are in a framework to become inspired. At that point we can infuse that act of charity or prayer with all the meaning and lift it can provide. But if we'd wait until being inspired, we might be waiting a very long time.

May the Almighty bless you with the clarity to see your progress, and may you do so with joy.

In 1940, a boatload 1,600 Jewish immigrants fleeing Hitler's ovens was denied entry into the port of Haifa; the British deported them to the island of Mauritius. At the time, the British had acceded to Arab demands and restricted Jewish immigration into Palestine. The urgent plight of European Jewry generated an "illegal" immigration movement, but the British were vigilant in denying entry. Some ships, such as the Struma, sunk and their hundreds of passengers killed.

If you seize too much, you are left with nothing. If you take less, you may retain it (Rosh Hashanah 4b).

Sometimes our appetites are insatiable; more accurately, we act as though they were insatiable. The Midrash states that a person may never be satisfied. "If he has one hundred, he wants two hundred. If he gets two hundred, he wants four hundred" (Koheles Rabbah 1:34). How often have we seen people whose insatiable desire for material wealth resulted in their losing everything, much like the gambler whose constant urge to win results in total loss.

People's bodies are finite, and their actual needs are limited. The endless pursuit for more wealth than they can use is nothing more than an elusive belief that they can live forever (Psalms 49:10).

The one part of us which is indeed infinite is our neshamah (soul), which, being of Divine origin, can crave and achieve infinity and eternity, and such craving is characteristic of spiritual growth.

How strange that we tend to give the body much more than it can possibly handle, and the neshamah so much less than it needs!